I keep hearing about the power and importance of story telling. I am obviously lousy at it! I have been banging my head against a brick wall for 15 years trying to create change in the IT Industry, seemingly to little avail… Obviously I have not been telling it in the right way, so I thought I’d make a story of it.
The end of this story is in fact the beginning. It should be the beginning of your story….’of how you closed the laptop….got up…..and?…’
The story so far….
(Put on some James Bond music in the background)
Scene: Once upon a time in the not too distant future. “A person squirms uncomfortably, sitting hunched over, behind a laptop screen in a darkened room. A great weight of responsibility rests upon their shoulders. Fear…Uncertainty and Doubt grips them. This is too important to walk away from, or ignore. What should they do?…what MUST they do? ….there is an aching realization, doing nothing is no longer an option!”….
(Fade out darkened room and show some films of the scenes below, with the voice-over text)
Voice-over text: “Time is ticking….the world is on the brink of a Digital transformation the like of which has never been seen before….will mankind be able to unleash and harness the power….or will IT be used to destroy us”?
(James bond music begins to reach a crescendo, digital images of the global use of IT appear at an ever increasing speed, eventually they become a blur).
(…the music suddenly stops, we black out the screen. Bright film images appear starting with the image of the baby below. The images are accompanied at first with a pacey upbeat tune with the voice-over text….the music stops abruptly at the last image…..the sound is an electrical short-circuit buzzing….).
Voiceover text: “Time is ticking….we can no longer turn back the clock. This is the dawning of a new era…the way we interact, the way we learn, the way organizations and societies behave and interact has changed. Digital and data have become the new lifeblood, promising a better future for humanity….already we can no longer survive without it?
(Haunting music….we shift to the films below. Pictures of cars driving, city skyscrapers, an oil rig slowly pumping, silhouetted against the setting sun…which blurs as electronic disturbance fills the screen on the last image).
Voice-over text: “…Economic instability beckons. Digital transformation becomes disruptive. Power shifts. A world in which the most valuable resource is no longer oil….but data. Criminals are ready to exploit and harness its power to topple economies…the Spectre (to play on the James Bond theme) of Cyber criminality has become a reality as People, Hospitals, Organizations and Governments are held ransom…….Only one person can save the day”
(The music erupts into an emotional crescendo and stops abruptly as the person closes the lid of their laptop).
“…..the person behind the laptop rubs their temples in an effort to relieve the tension, they can no longer sit still and watch….this new world is waiting for a new hero. Someone with the capability to help us transform to a world made safe through the power of digital enablement…..
That person…..is the ‘IT professional of tomorrow’ who finally asks themselves the ultimate question ‘…….what framework should I adopt?……which certificate should I get’?
Perhaps the world needs to look for a different IT hero. One that gets IT!
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